AEI says Dual-income 1-kid $133k/yr is "upper middle class"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2026/04/08/upper-middle-class-is-us-biggest-income-group

"In 2024, 31% of American families were upper middle class, compared with just 10% in 1979.


The think tank’s report defined the upper middle class as a family of three earning $133k to $400k in 2024 dollars—five to 15 times the federal poverty line."

$133K can be MC in some parts of the country. It's a wide range because of the variations in col across the country.

$133K in the DC area is actually MC. Median income around MoCo is about $133K.

Rust Belt and Deep South. Basically someplace where it’s a single doctor making $130k and everyone else is living on disability chasing drugs.

? as stated, Median income around MoCo is about $133K, and that is about what is considered MC in the DC area.

I guess it depends on what you consider a "middle class" lifestyle now a days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2026/04/08/upper-middle-class-is-us-biggest-income-group

"In 2024, 31% of American families were upper middle class, compared with just 10% in 1979.


The think tank’s report defined the upper middle class as a family of three earning $133k to $400k in 2024 dollars—five to 15 times the federal poverty line."

$133K can be MC in some parts of the country. It's a wide range because of the variations in col across the country.

$133K in the DC area is actually MC. Median income around MoCo is about $133K.

Rust Belt and Deep South. Basically someplace where it’s a single doctor making $130k and everyone else is living on disability chasing drugs.

? as stated, Median income around MoCo is about $133K, and that is about what is considered MC in the DC area.

I guess it depends on what you consider a "middle class" lifestyle now a days.

Owning a single family home in a neighborhood you can walk your dog at night and feel safe, college for all kids, domestic annual vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

GMAFB with your feelings. You earn over $1 million a year and have a second home. Boo hoo.

+1 a vacation home means UMC wealthy.

Signed someone who used to live in the Bay Area and had a vacation home in Tahoe.

Tahoe is awesome. Only problem is there are way too many liberal San Francisco snobs there. Why did you sell your vacation home there (you stated "had")?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fake news.

I live in a MCOL area with three kids, dual income with an HHI of $325 and we are struggling. Between childcare costs, student loan repayments, and credit card debt servicing (we took on cc debt during a spell of unemployment) we do not feel flush.

Yes you can make a lot of money in America but ain’t nothing free or cheap.

A lot of this depends on where you’re at in life. We’re in a MCOL area, dual income but make less at $285k. Our two kids are out of the daycare years, our student loans are gone, and we have no cc debt.

In a couple years, you probably will have shed many of your painful expenses. Much of this is patience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fake news.

I live in a MCOL area with three kids, dual income with an HHI of $325 and we are struggling. Between childcare costs, student loan repayments, and credit card debt servicing (we took on cc debt during a spell of unemployment) we do not feel flush.

Yes you can make a lot of money in America but ain’t nothing free or cheap.

A lot of this depends on where you’re at in life. We’re in a MCOL area, dual income but make less at $285k. Our two kids are out of the daycare years, our student loans are gone, and we have no cc debt.

In a couple years, you probably will have shed many of your painful expenses. Much of this is patience.

Thank you - we are working on it.

[Anonymous]

This is us. DIOK making $375k in Chevy Chase. It feels fine but that balance could tip if we had childcare or private school costs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

GMAFB with your feelings. You earn over $1 million a year and have a second home. Boo hoo.

+1 a vacation home means UMC wealthy.

Signed someone who used to live in the Bay Area and had a vacation home in Tahoe.

Tahoe is awesome. Only problem is there are way too many liberal San Francisco snobs there. Why did you sell your vacation home there (you stated "had")?

We moved out of the area, and had another kid and needed a house with another bedroom.

IMO, the snobs there aren't really liberal. Tech bros just blow with the political wind. Look at Musk, Zuckerburg et al. Now they bow to Trump.

This was a while ago when Tahoe was more affordable, and there were more ski bums than tech bros. Now it's the reverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

GMAFB with your feelings. You earn over $1 million a year and have a second home. Boo hoo.

+1 a vacation home means UMC wealthy.

Signed someone who used to live in the Bay Area and had a vacation home in Tahoe.

Tahoe is awesome. Only problem is there are way too many liberal San Francisco snobs there. Why did you sell your vacation home there (you stated "had")?

We moved out of the area, and had another kid and needed a house with another bedroom.

IMO, the snobs there aren't really liberal. Tech bros just blow with the political wind. Look at Musk, Zuckerburg et al. Now they bow to Trump.

This was a while ago when Tahoe was more affordable, and there were more ski bums than tech bros. Now it's the reverse.

Agree about the Tahoe Tech Bros vs Ski Bums. It's completely changed. And Tahoe is anything but affordable. Still some great skiiing when the snow is good.

[Anonymous]

Basically nobody in America thinks they are upper class. I remember it used to be tax the 1%, now it’s tax the billionaires. UMC and Upper Class doesn’t mean you don’t have to budget still.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fake news.

I live in a MCOL area with three kids, dual income with an HHI of $325 and we are struggling. Between childcare costs, student loan repayments, and credit card debt servicing (we took on cc debt during a spell of unemployment) we do not feel flush.

Yes you can make a lot of money in America but ain’t nothing free or cheap.

You're not struggling. Stop.

[Anonymous]

hahahahaha.

$133k UMC. For a single person in rural Alabama?

They just want all of the MAGAs to feel they are UMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically nobody in America thinks they are upper class. I remember it used to be tax the 1%, now it’s tax the billionaires. UMC and Upper Class doesn’t mean you don’t have to budget still.

+1

[Anonymous]

You need at least 500k to be UMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make $800K+ and my spouse makes about $500K a year and we feel UMC at best. But then again, this is DC. It's expensive to live here. We recently bought a vacation home near Jackson Hole, WY and eventually plan to live there at least 50% of the time. One major benefit other than the natural beauty is WY has no income taxes, low sales taxes, and low property taxes.

You are entry level rich. (Although I assume this is sarcasm)

[Anonymous]

401k is poorest of the rich and 400k is Richest of the poors